Los Andes

Gearing up for the ´world´s steepest pass´

Quebrada de Cafayate

It´s been about a week since my last update, and since that time Scott and I have cycled from Chilecito to a cool town called Cafayate, in one of Argentina´s ´high-altitude´ wine-growing regions. Almost the entire time, we have been on barren desert plateaus (actually ancient floodplains), often flanked on both sides by soaring mountain ridges that stretch as far as the eye can see. The scenery has been desolate but stunning, with many of these narrow ridges resembling lines of multi-coloured shark fins (this description is mainly for my Cantonese friends). In fact, some of these ridges are so narrow that one can instantly make out the single plates of which they are constituted, jutting out sharply into the wide-open blue sky. Cycling along these ridges, it´s easy to imagine the subduction zone underneath, with plates pushing these pastel-coloured shelfs thousands of feet into the sky. Breathtaking.

One of the coolest things about this part of northwest Argentina is that it is a well-kept secret, especially in comparison with the more famous (and touristed) areas of northern Chile and even the Bolivian altiplano. Contrary to popular belief, much of northwest Argentina is actually much higher in altitude than the better-known neighbouring areas of northern Chile and even Bolivia. All this scenery and altitude without jeep-loads of chilled honkies, ´roughing it´ in air-conditioned SUVs, screaming past us and covering us in clouds of sand and dust...

Given this, it looks like we might skip the Desierto de Atacama and San Pedro de Atacama crowds of brainwashed Lonely Planet geeks in favour of staying in Argentina until we enter Bolivia.

Adding to the appeal of this option is the fact that between us and Bolivia lies what people in these parts claim is the ´world´s steepest pass´ -- the Abra del Acay, which is said to be about 4,970 metres. While this pass is far from the highest in the world -- and a good 1,000 metres lower in elevation than some of the ones we cycled in Tibet five years ago -- what folks in this region say is most significant about it is that the final 15 kilometres of the pass is a dead straight climb, WITHOUT ANY SWITCHBACKS!!! If this is true, then we will be in for a real challenge, as such a steep gradient, on what is widely said to be a horrible dirt road, will add layers of extra exertion to the climb -- and make the altitude, and the possibility of altitude sickness, a more credible threat.

Even in Tibet, where we were consistently cycling over passes way higher than 5,000 metres, most of them had switchbacks that kept the road gradient to a reasonable level and made for a more manageable climb. We remember one pass in far northwestern Tibet (in Aksai Chin, the disputed area between India and China) that was probably about 5,500 metres, and the last 800 metres or so was a straight climb with no switchbacks. That, coupled with a sand-covered road, made for an exhausting climb, especially given how thin the air was. The advantage we had then is that we had already been cycling and sleeping consistently at altitudes of over 4,500 metres, so we were well acclimatised and altitude sickness was not a threat at all.

But now we are not trapped on a completely lifeless plateau such as Tibet, and we will have to climb from around 2,000-odd metres to reach the top of the Abra del Acay -- a climb entailing almost 3,000 metres of elevation gain. So if the final 15 clicks are as steep as the locals say, then we will have some altitude to contend with. We can´t wait, it will definitely be one of the highlights of the journey....

If all goes well, we will spill over the pass and drop a bit to the lonely outpost of San Antonio de los Cobres, where hopefully we can get a good rest and three square meals. We are hoping to make it there in about five days, so will take enough food to last us that long or a bit longer. Water might be scarce in parts, so we may have to filter what we can find. Our filter, a ´Katadyn Mini´, is far from ideal, and I had problems with this filter in Kyrgyzstan a couple of years ago. We miss the ´Pur´ filter we used to death in Tibet, but unfortunately it seems that company has gone bust so we had to settle for this substandard piece of weekend hiking gear....

Good protein-filled food that is easily transportable is also a bit of a challenge to find -- much of what we have had to rely on in the more remote areas are tinned sardines in oil and tins of some sort of minced meat that is likened to pate (although Scott insists on calling it "cat food", a name I for some reason can´t bring myself to use...).

Here´s to tins of sardines and pate all the way to San Antonio de los Cobres!

Posted by Brice at March 20, 2005 09:14 PM